ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court was informed on Thursday that a police inquiry committee had awarded major penalties to two delinquent police officers for their lax attitude and failure to stop the lynching of a Christian couple by a mob in Punjab’s Kot Radha Kishan on Nov 4 last year.

A report submitted by Additional Advocate General Razzaq A. Mirza on behalf of Punjab Inspector General Mushtaq Ahmad Sukhera said that salary of Sub-Inspector Mohammad Ali had been reduced for a period of two years while Assistant Sub-Inspector Abdul Rasheed compulsorily retired from service.

But a three-judge bench, headed by Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, was not satisfied with the penalties.

Also read: 'No mercy' for those behind murder of Christian couple: PM Nawaz

The court had taken up the tragic incident in which an enraged mob dragged the Christian couple to a kiln and burned them to death over alleged blasphemy.

The inquiry committee, headed by Additional Superintendent Sheikhupura, said ASI Abdul Rasheed did have some prior information about the burning of the holy text at the brick kiln of Mohammad Yousaf and even tried to resolve the matter on his own by collecting information from the owner of the kiln where the couple was burnt. However, the ASI was totally ignorant of the gravity of the situation and, therefore, did not pass on the information to senior officers.

“Two human beings have been burnt, but police have only deducted the salary of the police chowki in-charge and retired another officer with full benefits,” lamented Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed, a member of the bench.

“Do you know the extent of the damage caused to the country’s reputation due to this incident?” he said, adding that the report suggested that the matter was not being taken seriously.

It appeared that burning alive of non-Muslims was nothing new in Punjab, the judge said, citing the 2009 incident of torching of houses of Christians in Gojra.

The court summoned the prosecutor and the investigating officer to the next hearing on March 9.

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2015

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